Essay Sample on Pre-Colonial Art: Asian vs African Expression

During the pre-colonial period, most non-western countries artistic work involved drawing of sculptures and images to reflect a specific event or to convey a certain message. The resulting creative work would serve several roles depending on the environmental setup. In areas such as African countries, the use of art was only meant for memorial purposes of ancient acts such as story-telling events, certain rituals, and other related reasons. On the other hand, Asian countries such as Japan Used art as a communication tool and for political influence. This paper focuses on analyzing non-western influence on modern art by investigating Japanese woodwork prints and its impact on contemporary art.

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Art is considered a core for expressing different feelings, visually translating different scenarios. Japanese Woodblock Prints originated from the Tokyo region known initially as the Edo region during the shogun's era. During this eve, political power and the Japanese military were being controlled by shoguns. During this time, Japan was under seclusion policy, and the country was being locked from communicating with the outside world under Sakoku's Policy. The only mean of communication was through Woodblock prints, which were widely used for spreading written texts. The core art designer during this era Tawarasya Sotatsu, commonly used wood stamps to instill design on paper and silk. Therefore, wood prints become the most convenient way of sending text until the eighteenth century. This method of communication was commonly known as Ukiyo-e, which translates to "Pictures of the floating world." Most artworks during this era were reflecting the Kabuki theatre and the licensed brothels existing at that period. It was a form of advertisement for the emerging merchants within the area. Both Yakusha-e and Bijinga courtesan actors were from the low-status economy. However, they become familiar, featuring the style of such time.

As the time elapsed, other additional features such as dramatic historical events and romantic songs were added to the picture painting. The ancient japan was had folklore tradition and vibrant storytelling. Therefore, most creation such as monsters, demons and tales became the significant aspects for woodblock prints. The pilgrim travel boom in the early eighteenth century continually supported landscape pictures and guide books. Most print views were stationed along the Mount Fuji, along Tokaido road hence becoming the main print series (Derrick, Michele, Joan, Wright and Richard Newman 28)

The earlier Japanese woodblock prints involve art composition comprising of grace and warmth as opposed to other print works. To create woodwork, specialized knowledge was needed. In woodblock print creation, the process involved five different individuals playing different roles. The first part involved the image design done by the artist to be printed. The second stage involved engraving (cutting the woodblock for printing) done by the Engraver. The third part involved printing sheets from the engraved blocks done by the printer. The fourth part of the creative process involved the publisher done by the person financing and overseeing the whole creation process. The last individual in the chain was the customer; the success of the creation was determined by the customer demand depending on their taste.

Sometimes the publisher played the role of the bookseller. The publisher was involved in making up prints and publishing them for commercial purposes. It was the work of the publisher to choose compelling topics as well as assessing the quality of the artwork. The cooperation between the engravers and printers determine the final designer's work performance.

Cherry woodblocks were used to post the image. The final work involved following the image lines using the chisel to cut woodblocks, creating the negative of the original image. The lines and areas raised in relief despite being supposed to be colorful. The ink was then applied on the woodblock surface. The print was made by making a rub over the pad on the back piece of the inked board, leaving an impression. The copies were initially issued in either white or black colors. Okumura Masanobu and Suzuki Harunobu used the same block for every color creating colored woodblocks. Therefore, these two artists were among the most famous artists who created colored Images under such difficult situations. Later, Harunobu made hundreds of colored prints specific to contemporary and classical themes.

To maintain accuracy in cases where many blocks were to be used, the artists would place guide cuts at each block edge hence able to make up to twenty prints on single silk or paper. The main document used during this period was the mulberry tree inner bark. This kind of article was mostly preferred due to its long-lasting capability, not easily affected by persistent rubbing during encryption and ability to soak ink and other pigments quickly. The curvings would be remade after they become worn. The total number of reproductions could reach up to thousands.

During the 18th century, the Japanese prints started flooding the Western art. The mastery of the Ukiyo-e school printing created the impression of creating transitional and simple daily subjects from the "floating world" in a more appealing manner. The impact created by the Japanese wood print artists significantly contributed to the new Western photography. Creating unconventional compositions, as well as snapshot angles as in western artistic work, were initially derived from Japanese woodblock prints.

During the late seventeenth century, most publishers shifted their focus to printing actors form such as Kabuki Theater, legendary Japanese warriors such as Samurai, as well as other historical events. The wooden blocks prints formed the basis of most prints. Most artists took different dimensions. Tastes and preferences progressed during the Edo period leading to the creation of new ideas. The customer demand lends to the birth of beautiful sceneries such as landscape printing adopted by western artists. During the early 20th century, the prints shifted to more commercial attractive innovation, especially the Huaniao Hua (flowers and birds prints) and fukei Hua (landscape prints) (Perez-Arantegui, Josefina, et al. 129). New ideas shifting from the single sheet composite to multi-sheet composition were common among the emerging artists. Most advanced artistically work adopted by western artists was printing images to express certain feelings. Such creations were complex to design and needed prior understanding of metaphorical meanings of the pictures portrayed hence the beginning of "hidden meanings in modern artistic work" (Marks, Andreas).

Artists such as Kitagawa and Toshusai Sharaku had other motives behind two-dimensional artwork. These artists who changed the mood in customers taste. The actors focused on showing their true nature to the Ukiyo-e world. The artists were addicted to sensual pleasures and usually concentrated on printing the beauty images advertising them to the merchants (Derrick 12). Late designs were oriented to entertainment purposes, especially the Katsushika Hokusai designs for landscapes. He concentrated on creating reflection for romantic, the beauty nature (Derrick 12). The most famous woodblock print in japan was the "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" which became best known over the world. Kawanabe and Utagawa used vibrating colors and startling composites to design colorful prints to depict movement and action. Ukiyo-e was a unique art form that emphasizes combined perception and urban commercial scenes with Japanese culture and philosophy life. It assisted in creating meaning for Japanese culture (Mounier, Aurelie, et al. 129).

Modern art is built on a Photographic approach where different angles and image density is considered a vital aspect. By analyzing the ancient Asian artwork, most issues have been transferred into modern art, such as the use of to create beautiful landscape sceneries. Most dimensions, such use of a single sheet of paper to draw images has been adopted from the ancient Asian Approach of creating multiple images on a single piece of leaf. Other advancements in creating specific hidden meaning behind a piece of art have been adopted from the ancient Asian Approach of creating images explaining certain events or reflecting the artist's life.

Non-western art as significantly influence modern art in most dimensions. Contemporary art can, therefore, be considered to be an improvement on the prior art built on life driving events and certain driving factors. Various styles used today rely on the ancient art styles used in creating images. The need for communication arising from within served a significant role in promoting creativity among most designers. Its success in connection leads to the birth of other legendary artistic designs from other artists across the world.

Works Cited

Derrick, Michele, Richard Newman, and Joan Wright. "Characterization of yellow and red natural organic colorants on Japanese woodblock prints by EEM fluorescence spectroscopy." Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 56.3-4 (2017): 171-193. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01971360.2016.1275438?casa_token=5_zV1IWfytYAAAAA:uM3nPU6-efvQ-MfBTYb99tzUwY16jL6f63mejJsCYT3DkUxHEVZfVoGBZq8Roz7WZJQ-NMpLF934mcS4DA

Mounier, Aurelie, et al. "Red and blue colors on 18th-19th-century Japanese woodblock prints: in situ analyses by spectrofluorimetry and complementary non-invasive spectroscopic methods." Microchemical Journal 140 (2018): 129-141. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0026265X17308718

Perez-Arantegui, Josefina, et al. "Colours and pigments in late ukiyo-e artworks: a preliminary non-invasive study of Japanese woodblock prints to interpret hyperspectral images using in-situ point-by-point diffuse reflectance spectroscopy." Microchemical Journal 139 (2018): 94-109. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0026265X17308998

Derrick, Michele, Joan Wright, and Richard Newman. "Plant dye identification in Japanese woodblock prints." Arnoldia 74.3 (2017): 12-28. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michele_Derrick/publication/315754202_Plant_Dye_Identification_in_Japanese_Woodblock_Prints/links/58e23dc64585153bfe9cf9d6/Plant-Dye-Identification-in-Japanese-Woodblock-Prints.pdf

Marks, Andreas. Japan Journeys: Famous Woodblock Prints of Cultural Sights in Japan. Tuttle Publishing, 2015. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Xa2HCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Japanese+woodblock+prints&ots=x0uqu4s2d2&sig=RBMMC9XLMs4uPj16bpSYWdQYeH4